Timelines: Assault on America Is A Fully-Fledged RTS On Mobile

Timelines: Assault on America [Android, iOS]

• Developer: Strategy First
• Genre: Real Time Strategy
• Price: FREE ($3.99 unlocks the full game)

Picture this – Washington D.C. in the smoking ruins, a bloody sun is rising behind the Capitol Hill. Die Fahne hoch emanates from the loudspeakers all over the place, as the Nazi march a conqueror's parade in front of the White House, the starry striped flag lays dirty and torn on the bomb-shattered, once green lawn... Let that vision sink in for a moment.

Timelines: Assault on America elaborates on the subject of WW II in one of the most unexpected and non-researched ways. What would have happened had Germany beat the Soviets and the British, had Ahnenerbe made a quantum leap in 'science' researching alien technology, and the Third Reich used foo fighters to invade the United States of America, proudly parading the glory of the Aryan race across the streets of the defeated Yankees. Of course, there would have been allied forces of Japan, Italy and Spain backing the invasion.

The game does not have flying saucers, however. What it does have is a gorgeous arsenal of heavy machinery, weapons and men, a fluid and complex UI, a beautifully rendered 3D map, cinematic soundtrack and a full box of other goodies for hardcore RTS fans.

Overview

The game was released on Windows, Mac and Linux in September 2013, then re-released for Steam in 2014, and in February 2015 it finally launched on Android and iOS.

The mobile version is a freemium game, offering plenty of content to try for free before players need to choose whether to buy the rest of it, or not. To be precise, three missions out of 12 are available for free, as well as 10 hours of multiplayer gameplay. The full game costs $3.99 via the in-app purchase.

Android tablets should have at least 1GB of memory available and be 7 inches wide; iOS devices should run at least iOS 6.

It may not run on certain devices due to the game being quite 'serious' about its own weight and hardware resources it requires, so don't rush to give it a bad rating just because it fails to launch. Chances are it's not the game, but your device.

Gameplay

Timelines : Assault on America features two modes – campaign and multiplayer, with the latter uniting desktop and mobile players from all over the world. In multiplayer mode, players can engage in cross-platform 4-player PvP or player versus AI missions. Also, players can choose to be on one of the nine parties – Germany, USA, UK, France, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia or USSR.

The single player campaign mode features 12 missions, with the final battle in Washington D.C.

The gameplay is complex, and if you haven't played TAA on desktop, you may need an hour or two to sort out the UI, the micro-management roll, the map and the mini-map, the assortment of units, and most importantly, your strategy.

At its core, TAA, pardon the acronym, is a blend of tower offense and tower defense, where you have to think for both directions. You can't just play on the offense because the enemy never sleeps, and you'll be attacked from the flanks you haven't protected properly.

Difficulty

The difficulty of the micro-management does not need to be off-putting, and fans of the real time strategy games appreciate the depth and the essence of the game, since the similar level of quality is a rare thing on the mobile platform.

Nonetheless, it does suggest a learning curve, which depends on a player's previous experience with the game itself, or the RTS genre in general. The touch controls are smooth, but some management buttons may be indeed a bit too small, especially when you have a lot of items on your hands.

Thankfully, the first mission literally takes you by the hand and shows around while the Game Center or Google Play services register your rank and the stats. As you start off, the UI shows straightforward descriptions and shows you what to do. Hence, the first mission is roughly a tutorial guiding you through the offense and defense units, options, building types and map while the other two free ones let you try your wits and see how fun the game is.

Notably, the AI registers your skill level and adjusts to it, so it gets smarter as you get more skillful.

Units

Timelines: Assault on America features over 20 unit types per each nations, with over 200 upgrades. Tanks, machine guns, infantry, engineers and snipers, weapons, buildings and even medics – a whole ton of things, big and small, that will keep skipping your mind every now and then, like deploying mining fields around your base, or load the infantry into the trucks when they arrive (these fellows don't just hop on by themselves – they await orders, Sir). Or, you need to remind them to repair the damaged vehicles, and deploy cargo units to carry supplies – you know, all that war management part.

The richness of inventory is delightful, and you will enjoy building structures, protecting your flanks and deploying vicious attacks on your enemy.

Tanks are of particular interest for many players, and there are a few different types of them here, each featuring unique characteristics, as much as the soldiers have their own attributes. The very mass of content creates a complex and thorough strategy experience perfect for the RTS fans.

Design

The design is superb, with vibrant colors and realistic rendering of shapes, shadows and light, meticulous and detailed, with impressive, yet not overly sentimental explosions. When the developers put a really impressive cinematic soundtrack on top of that, as an extra icing on the cake, the overall impression is that of a serious, no-nonsense, quality RTS that does not come along every day on a mobile platform.

Pros

• Fully-fledged real time strategy
• 3 missions of single player campaign and 10 hours of multiplayer gameplay are available for free
• 12 missions in total
• 20 unit types per nation
• 200+ upgrades for the units
• 9 playable nations
• Great design
• Cool soundtrack
• 4-player cross-platform PvP, Player vs AI
• Defensive and offensive tactics, with mining fields, airstrikes, infantry, tanks, trucks, stationary guns and more
• Translated in 6 languages

Cons

• A steep learning curve for the entrants to the genre
• The game is demanding in terms of hardware, so not every tablet will run it, at least as far as Android is concerned

Conclusion

Timelines: Assault on America is a great RTS for the fans of the genre – complex, detailed, deep and demanding. It provides for hours of gameplay in single player campaign mode and in cross-platform multiplayer, or player versus AI. When I see some users leave bad ratings because the game is not free, or does not run on a specific device, I feel this kind of attitude doesn't help them make their point. Overall, the ratings are excellent, when you look at the rational feedback. So, if your device has enough horsepower to run this beauty, and you love no-nonsense RTS games, give it a go. Get it on Android or iOS.